http://law.onecle.com/florida/crimes/776.041.html

[div class='excerpt']776.041 Use of force by aggressor.
The justification described in the preceding sections of this chapter is not available to a person who:

(1) Is attempting to commit, committing, or escaping after the commission of, a forcible felony; or

(2) Initially provokes the use of force against himself or herself, unless:

(a) Such force is so great that the person reasonably believes that he or she is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm and that he or she has exhausted every reasonable means to escape such danger other than the use of force which is likely to cause death or great bodily harm to the assailant; or

(b) In good faith, the person withdraws from physical contact with the assailant and indicates clearly to the assailant that he or she desires to withdraw and terminate the use of force, but the assailant continues or resumes the use of force.

e.g., you can't take a swing at someone, then shoot them when they swing back. As far as we can tell, Zimmerman provoked the use of force.

It's Sanford PD's refusal to look at the actual law on the books that is bothering me.

Again, I doubt most folks go to any length to understand these laws. They hear what they want to hear, and remember what they want to remember when they strap on a gun before venturing into public.

I'm hopeful this incident will help people realize such laws are BS, and that it's time to take a serious look at whether we want people like Zimmerman walking around in public with a gun or two.

Those who support more guns in public, on college campuses, public parks, etc., should take responsibility for this and fix it.

I'll bet my rear, this incident is exactly what some of the right wingers that supported it imagined when they voted to enact this law.

But, truthfully, the real culprit is the yahoo with a gun and hatred for "suspicious looking people."

.. to prosecute? Doubtful.

You know, it actually helps to lay the blame in the right place- Zimmerman and the PD that's refusing to apply the law as written and prosecute him.

Purchasers of guns, provide the capital for manufacturers, the NRA, gun shop owners, those who deal guns in parking lots, etc., to open up new markets for their guns. They market them as "assault rifles," as "tactical" weapons, etc., to those who drool over such things.

Look who supported this law -- the NRA lobbyists were there, right wingers were there, you and your buddies from the Gungeon were cheering it and are now pushing for more "stand your ground laws" in other states. You also promote allowing almost anyone to carry a gun on city streets, just about anywhere they want.

I think this is an excellent example of why we need to re-examine the gun laws and why so many right wingers are behind them.

You just keep on ignoring the point. Maybe it will come to you in time.

as in what Zimmerman did?

So he'd be disqualified from using this defense by *both* sections.

apply to the person he detained illegally rather than Zimmerman?

and even if the kid did initiate a physical altercation after being illegally detained he was well within his rights. Expect some whiplash around here on this stand your ground business soon.

having a legitimate self-defense claim.

Doesn't happen often, but when it does, heads pop.

one person was in the act of committing a felony and another stood his ground as per Florida law. my point was that those blaiming this on the stand your ground law are going to do a 180 when they realize it was the kid who was excercising his right under the law.and not Zimmerman. I support such laws because I don't think anyone should be forced to give in to a bully like Zimmerman.

Some folks down there have a funny idea of what is reasonable.

They hear they can blast away, and run out and buy another gun or a higher capacity magazine. And, I'll bet many of those who call themselves self-defense trainers don't get into the minutia of the law either.

Over in the Gungeon, cheers go up every time another state passes such legislation. Heck, there was even a thread a few weeks ago instructing gun carriers to turn off their cell phones after calling 911 for fear the police might hear something -- like a young, unarmed teenager pleading for his life -- that might incriminate the habitual gun carrier who blasts away when other options are available.

..what is on the tape to identify the person calling for help then it would be easy to arrest Zimmerman seeing that the yell for help would be a death bed confession if it turns out to be Trayvon.

not 'deathbed confession.'

I have no idea if it would fall into that category in a technical sense, but a clear ID of the person screaming would certainly provide some strong evidence to support what already seems to be the case...

On the FACE of the story Zimmerman was the one who went after Martin, after being told by the police NOT to, and then a confrontation occured

Anyone that shoots another will claim self defense for any reason, real or not.

Add to it. If the person claims self defense because "I thought he reached for a weapon" then the shooter should hold some responsibility for that decision. Yes, he may have saved his life, if it was a weapon. If it turns out the person had no weapon, the shooter should pay for his mistake with a 15 to 20 year prison sentence. Note, the shooter would not lose his life, only give up his freedom for his mistake that cost another innocent person his life. If one is willing to risk a mistake, that person should be responsible for that choice. If right and it was a weapon, cool. If not you pay.

Zimmerman was HUNTING Martin.

LMFAO, are we now blaming Limpbaugh for every shooting death in the country? What if he never listened to him, blame him anyway?

The only person to blame this death on is Zimmermann.
He chose to get out of his car and stalk this kid.
He chose to confront him after the Police Dispatcher said not too.
He chose to initiate a physical confrontation while outweighing Trayvon by 100 lbs and when he apparently was losing decided to use lethal force.

He put himself in this position and murdered this child. The District Attorney or DoJ should Indict, try and throw the book at this guy.

You can't claim self-defense when you were the only one armed and you started the trouble. Even the freepiest paranoid moron should have no trouble seeing the logic here.